


The Emotion and the Response

by betsib



Series: Not with a bang [1]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-04 23:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war ends, Nico disappears, and Jason isn't going to sit idly by while his friend hides away among the dead. He'll get him to come back, even if it means going down into the Underworld and dragging Nico out of there himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_An oath to keep with a final breath._

That line of the prophecy was pretty easy to understand. Jason had been sure one of them was going to die, and had been fully prepared to throw himself into the line of fire when it happened. When the smoke cleared and the seven demigods finally started to realize that it was over, that they had actually won, they were surprised to see they were all still alive. And unharmed, for the most part. All seven of them were bleeding, but it was nothing a little ambrosia wouldn’t cure.

Leo started shouting triumphantly, taunting the once again sleeping goddess in a way that Jason feared would wake her up all over again. Then Piper threw herself into his arms, laughing. There were hugs, kisses and laughter while they made their way back to the _Argo II_. Most of them barely made it to their beds before falling asleep. After weeks of fighting and worrying, they were all exhausted.

In the middle of the night Jason suddenly woke up, swore loudly and hurried to the common room. There was a growing feeling of dread in his gut as he looked around. The screens usually showing scenes from Camp Half-Blood were blank, but that didn’t have to mean anything. Jason’s hands were shaking as he prepared to send an Iris-message.

“Reyna, at Camp Half-blood.” he said, tossing the coin into the rainbow. It went straight through, falling down on the floor with a ominous clank. Jason tried his best to remain calm as he picked it up to try again.

“Nico di Angelo, at Camp Half-blood.” He said, his voice shaking. This time the coin disappeared, and the dark figure of the son of Hades became visible. He was sitting alone on a bed, holding his head in his hands. He looked up at Jason, and his eyes seemed more hollow than Jason had ever seen. Even after they rescued him from the bronze jar he didn’t look this bad.

“Grace.” Nico greeted without a smile. “So you guys have defeated Gaia. Is Hazel okay?” 

“Yes, we’re all fine. Hazel’s asleep.” Jason reassured him. “Nico, is...is Reyna there?”

“No.” Nico said quietly, turning his gaze away. Jason stared at him, unable to speak. He couldn’t mean…?

“She protected me. Throughout the journey, she protected me. Then we finally got here.” Nico said, his voice cracking. “We thought we had managed to get here just in time. Both armies were ready to fight, but they hesitated when they saw the statue. We thought it was going to work. Then the arrow came out of nowhere. Poison.”

“No.” Jason said weakly. “No, that’s not how she...no.” Nico looked up at him again, and there were tears in his eyes.

“The camps attacked each other. I managed to get them to notice Gaea’s forces in the end, and they worked together to defeat them. The camp is safe, but...” he whispered. “I couldn’t save her. I’m so sorry.”

“NO!” Jason screamed. “She wasn’t supposed to be the one! She didn’t even make a proper oath to bring the statue back! It can’t be true!”

“She...she made an oath to me.” Nico said, turning his gaze down again. “To protect me. I didn’t want her to. That arrow was intended for me.”

Jason stared at him. The air suddenly seemed thick and hard to breath, and he was cold. He had known he would lose someone in this war, maybe even die himself. The thought that it would be Reyna had never even crossed his mind.

“I’m sorry.” Nico said again, and the message faded away. Jason remained where he was for a moment, standing still as a statue, staring at the spot where Nico’s face had been just seconds before. Then he walked out on the front deck and looked down at the peaceful Grecian landscape below them. Jason screamed.

All his rage, guilt and sorrow was contained in that one scream. Jason’s knees wobbled, and he sunk down on deck, sobbing quietly. He barely noticed as the others started appearing, looking confused and barely awake. His scream must have startled them. Jason didn’t particularly care. At that moment he would rather his screaming had attracted monster’s for him to fight.

“Jason, what’s wrong?” Piper asked, kneeling beside him. Her voice sounded concerned, but Jason didn’t look up at her. 

“Reyna is gone.” Jason said quietly, his voice breaking with every word, but apparently it was loud enough. He heard the others gasp in surprise. 

“How?” Annabeth asked. “What happened?” 

Jason shook his head. “An arrow. Poison. Nico said the camps are safe.” he said. Piper put an arm around him, and he leaned into the touch, resting his head on her shoulder.

“We should get going.” Leo said, his voice moving away. “We should see for ourselves.”

Even flying, it took the _Argo II_ three days to reach New York. Some smaller monsters attacked them on the way, and Jason was thankful for the distraction. He had managed to calm down and get control over his emotions, mostly because he didn’t want Piper and the others to worry about him, but he still felt hollow. Maybe it would get better after hearing the full story.

The welcome committee was large as they landed at Camp Half-Blood. Hundreds of demigods, satyrs and nymphs stood on the ground, cheering as they got off the ship. A hero’s welcome, truly, but Jason found himself unable to enjoy it. He made an attempt to smile anyway, like the others did. Jason wondered if the crowds realized how fake his smile was. Maybe they just didn’t care.

Chiron came out to greet them, and led them to the main building for a private audience. As they walked, Jason could see the statue of Athena looming over them on Half-Blood Hill. A strange scar ran through the earth from the statues feet and almost a hundred meters forward, as if someone had dug a deep ditch and then filled it again. _Nico_ , Jason immediately thought, though he wouldn’t have been able to explain why he felt so sure.

It turned out he was right, though. Chiron told the story of Reyna’s death with a lot more detail than Nico had provided. Apparently Nico, Reyna and coach Hedge had appeared with the statue in the nick of time, minutes before the two armies of demigods would have clashed. She gave a speech that should have ended the war then and there, while Nico was resting behind her. That was when the arrow had been fired. 

If Reyna hadn’t put her sword down as part of her speech, she might have been able to deflect it, but as it was, she had pushed Nico out of the way and taken the hit. Later it was clear that the arrow had been shot from Gaea’s mist-covered forces, but at the time both sides were blaming each other. The war started, but thanks to Nico it had been brief. In anger he’d managed to open a rift in the ground between the two forces, with skeletons crawling out of it. Nico had pointed out the real enemy to the stunned Greeks and Romans, and with their combined forces the battle had been won.

Jason zoned out as Percy and Annabeth described their own battle to Chiron. As soon as the meeting was over he told Piper he wanted to be alone for a little bit. She seemed a bit reluctant, but she let him go. She had friends of her own she wanted to see at the Aphrodite cabin, anyway. Jason avoided company as best he could as he made his way towards the statue, where Reyna had died. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find. Blood, maybe, or the actual arrow that had killed her, but there was no trace left anywhere. Except the scar in the earth.

Jason wondered where Nico was. He’d seen him briefly with Hazel after they arrived, but walking back to camp, he could see Hazel and Frank talking to some Roman soldiers. Nico was nowhere to be seen. On a whim he walked up to the Hades cabin and knocked on the door. At first there was no answer, then the door slowly opened. Nico di Angelo looked surprised to see him.

“Can I come in?” Jason asked, and Nico wordlessly stepped aside for him, closing the door behind him. Jason looked around. He had never been inside the Hades cabin before, and probably wouldn’t want to come there again after this. The place looked like a mausoleum. Jason couldn’t even imagine trying to sleep in there.

Nico was watching him, looking uncomfortable, but he didn’t say anything.

“Chiron told us what happened.” Jason started, and Nico looked down on the floor.

“It should have been me.” Nico said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked, momentarily confused. Then it dawned on him, and he became angry. “Reyna gave her life for you. Don’t you dare apologize for being alive! Don’t you _dare_!” 

Nico flinched at his words, but didn’t say anything, didn’t even look up from the floor. Jason was still angry, but he sighed deeply, trying to calm down.

“Reyna wouldn’t want you to feel guilty.” he said. Nico nodded slowly.

“I know, she told me. But...”

“Wait.” Jason said, confused again. “She told you? When?”

“Last night. I summoned her spirit.” Nico said. “I wanted to ask...It doesn’t matter. She said she was going to choose rebirth.”

Jason stood speechless, staring at the boy in front of him. It dawned on him how different Nico’s perception of death was from his own. How much more tangible the concept was. How much nearer. 

At the same time, he was still angry.

“A lot of people would have liked the chance to say goodbye to her.” he said. “You couldn’t have waited another day?”

Nico flinched again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if you’d been able to see her. Or hear her. People don’t usually ask me to...I’m sorry.”

He sat down on the bed, looking like he was going to cry. Jason finally took a good look at the scrawny boy before him, and realized how scared and defeated he looked. Nico seemed to just be waiting for Jason to blow up at him, to tell him how Reyna shouldn’t have sacrificed herself for someone like him. He didn’t look like he’d say a word to defend himself if Jason did start screaming at him. Maybe some part of Nico wanted him to.

Jason sighed again, and sat down beside Nico, who tensed up as if he was preparing to run away. If it had been Leo, or Piper, or pretty much anyone else, Jason would have put an arm around them and told them it was okay, but Nico had told him in Croatia that he didn’t like people touching him. Jason had to respect that. 

“Listen.” he said instead. “Nobody is blaming you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. If anything, we should be thanking you. You managed to stop the war. You’re a hero.”

“Everybody is afraid of me.” Nico said quietly. “I’m not a hero, I was just so angry. I didn’t even realize Gaea’s troops were there until after I’d created the rift and summoned those skeletons. If that arrow really had come from either camp…”

“But it didn’t.” Jason said. “That’s what matters. We have a real chance of uniting now, thanks to you. ”

“I still don’t belong here, or in New Rome.” Nico said, turning his gaze towards Jason for the first time. “I’ll stay the night, but tomorrow I’ll be on my way.”

 

Jason didn’t think much of it, to be honest. Nico di Angelo had had a habit of coming and going for as long as Jason had known him. Some part of Jason missed him and their budding friendship when he was gone, but unifying the camps kept him very busy for a long time. After Reyna’s funeral, which was also the funeral for all the other demi god who’d lost their lives in the battle, Jason was flying between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter on an almost weekly basis, acting as a consultant and peace-keeper, developing strategies for cooperation between the camps.

Despite everything that had happened, during the first weeks of unifying Jason almost feared that another civil war may begin. He barely had time for his girlfriend at all. In the beginning they kept sneaking off together as soon as Jason landed in Camp Half-Blood, but after a few months these moments were starting to become rare.

“You worry too much about the camps. ” Piper said on one such occasion. “You should spend more time here, with me. Maybe we should even run away somewhere.”

At first Jason readily agreed, then he hesitated. “Are you charm-speaking me?” he asked, which was obviously a stupid thing to say. 

“Do you really think I would charm-speak my boyfriend?” she asked, her eyes blazing with anger. “Though it might be the only way to get you to spend any time with me anymore.”

Jason tried to make it up to her, he really did, but things were never the same between them after that. Sometime later she told him she was moving in with her dad for a while, because she hadn’t seen him in so long. Jason suspected she wanted some space, away from him. They hadn’t officially broken up, but he had a feeling it was over anyway.

When he went back to Camp Jupiter after that, Hazel came to see him. She looked upset, and at first Jason thought it was because she’d heard about the situation with Piper, but she had something else on her mind.

“Have you heard anything from my brother?” she asked, and Jason was surprised.

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

“I can’t get a hold of him.” Hazel said, sounding worried. “I haven’t heard from him in three months.”

“I haven’t seen Nico since we got back after the battle.” Jason said. “He hasn’t contacted you?”

“Not a word. And the Iris-messages don’t connect.” Hazel said, her lip quivering. “That makes sense, if he’s in the Underworld, but it’s not like him not to contact me.” 

“But he’s okay, right?” Jason said. “I mean, you’d know if he...”

“He’s alive, but I’m worried about him.” Hazel said. “Please, if you hear from him, tell me.”

“I promise, but he’ll probably be back any day now.” Jason tried to reassure her, but she didn’t seem convinced.

Later that night Jason attempted to contact Nico himself, but the coin wasn’t accepted. It just passed through the rainbow and fell down on the other side. Jason got a nauseating feeling of deja vu, but Hazel had been sure that Nico was still alive. Still, Jason started to worry.

“I’ll help you close the Doors of Death. Then that’s it. I’m leaving-forever”, Nico had told him once. After everything that had happened since then, Jason couldn’t believe Nico would just disappear. He might have left the rest of them, but for Nico to leave _Hazel_ like that... Jason shook his head. Something must have happened. 

_Or maybe he’s just been as busy as I have been_ , Jason thought, trying to convince himself. After getting back to Camp Half-Blood, he asked the others about it, but they hadn’t heard from Nico either. Jason had expected as much. He very much doubted Nico would have contacted Percy unless the world was ending. Again.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.” Annabeth said, and Percy nodded.

“I really can’t understand the guy. I mean, Bob told us Nico used to go see him, but he never seems to visit his living friends. It’s so strange.”

 _Not really_ , Jason thought, but he didn’t comment. So much of Nico’s behavior made perfect sense when you knew his secret. Jason wished he could tell them so they’d understand, but it wasn’t his secret to reveal.

Two more months passed, with no sign of Nico di Angelo. Hazel was getting frantic.

“He wouldn’t just leave!” she insisted, and there were tears in her eyes. “I’m so scared that one day I’ll wake up and feel him dying, on his own. I can’t...we have to find him!”

Frank put an arm around her as she started to cry. 

“We will find him.” Jason promised, silently adding that he would kick Nico’s ass if it turned out the boy had just ran away. “I’ll go look for him.”

Hazel looked a bit uncertain. “Are you sure?” she asked. “He’s probably somewhere in the Underworld.”

“I’ll find him.” Jason insisted, though in retrospect, maybe he should have thought it through. 

Hazel, who would have been the greatest help, couldn’t come with him. If she went down to the Underworld again, she might never be allowed to leave. Frank had duties as praetor of New Rome, a responsibility that was exclusively his until Reyna’s successor would be chosen. Leo was working around the clock trying to find a way back to Calypso’s island. Piper was touring America with her father. Which left Percy and Annabeth.

Jason saw both of their faces turn pale as he asked the question.

“Nico might be in trouble, yeah, we should look for him.” Percy muttered, holding Annabeth’s hand so tight his knuckles whitened. She seemed to be doing the same thing.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, and they shook their heads.

“The Underworld. It’s so close to...” Percy said. “So close to Tartarus. It’s hard to even think about going down there.”

“But you’re probably right about Nico being there.” Annabeth said. Her voice was steady, but her fingers shook. “We should, we should look for him.”

“No.” Jason said, causing both of them look up at him in surprise. “You two stay here. You can keep an eye out for him above ground.”

“You can’t go into the Underworld alone.” Percy said, but judging from the relieved looks on his and Annabeth’s faces he wasn’t going to argue very hard.

“Hercules and Orpheus did it.” Jason said. “How hard can it be?”

Very hard, it turned out. Even though Percy guided him to the entrance Orpheus used, a shortcut into the Underworld if you will, and used a portable record player to open the doors, it was still hard getting anywhere in the Underworld at all. It was vast and confusing, and uncomfortably _underground_. Jason was a son of Jupiter. The underground was not his favorite place. He seemed to lose his sense of direction when he didn’t have access to the open sky. If the furies hadn’t caught him he might have never found his way to the Palace of Hades.

The god of the Underworld, Nico’s father, was sitting on a black throne looking bored and quite frightening when Jason was brought before him.

“What is a son of Zeus doing in my kingdom?” he demanded, eyeing Jason suspiciously.

“Jupiter, actually.” Jason said automatically, massaging his shoulders as the furies let go of him. It would still only take them a second to catch him again, if he tried to run. “My name is Jason Grace.”

“Ah, one of the seven!” Hades said, clearly not impressed. “I assume you’re here about that Roman girl who died. A little late, I’m afraid.”

“Her name was Reyna.” Jason said, angry to hear his friend spoken about so casually. “She chose rebirth. I’m not here for her.”

“Oh. Then why are you here?” Hades asked again. “Taking the tour?”

“I’m looking for...” Jason started.

“Grace!” a familiar voice exclaimed behind him. Jason spun around, and Nico di Angelo stood there. He was painfully thin, as pale as a corpse and had dark circles under his eyes. In other words, he looked the same as always. Nico walked over to Jason, who stared at him in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” Nico asked, and Jason’s paralysis broke. He stepped forward and punched Nico in the face.

Nico fell backwards while the furies caught hold of Jason again, crying in outrage. Jason didn’t care.

“You son of a bitch!” Jason yelled. “Do you have any idea how worried Hazel is about you? How hard is it to send your sister a message?” 

Nico sat up on the floor, looking dazed. His nose was bleeding, and Jason would have felt bad if he hadn’t been so angry.

“Let him go.” Nico told the furies and he got on his feet. They looked at Hades for confirmation, before reluctantly letting Jason free. “Why would she be worried? She knows I’m okay.”

“Six months, Nico. _Six months_. Of course she’s worried.” Jason growled. “How could you just leave like that?”

“I didn’t, I...” Nico started, then hesitated. “Six months? Really?”

“If I may interrupt.” Hades said sarcastically from the throne. Jason jumped. He had forgotten the god was there. “The son of Jupiter still hasn’t explained why he’s here.”

“I was looking for Nico, obviously.” Jason said. Hades raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Nico was wearing a similar expression. The family resemblance was eerie. Jason wondered why they seemed so doubtful. What else would he be doing there?

“You would face the horrors of the Underworld just to find my son?” Hades said, sounding vaguely amused. “That’s...unexpected.”

“Come on.” Nico said, gesturing for Jason to follow him after taking leave of his father, who kept watching them with a bemused smile. Jason wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

Nico led them to a small room that held nothing but a wardrobe, a bed and a desk. It reminded Jason of the Hades cabin at Camp Half-Blood. It was probably Nico’s room, but it felt more like a prison cell. Or a grave.

“So why are you really here?” Nico asked as he closed the door behind them, as if he expected Jason to have some kind of secret. Jason scowled at him.

“I told you. I was looking for you.” Jason said. “And now that I’ve found you, I’m going to drag you up to the surface with me.”

Nico studied him in silence for a moment, as if he was trying to determine whether or not Jason was telling the truth. “Time is difficult to determine down here.” he finally said. “Has it actually been six months?”

“Yes. What have you been doing, if you didn’t realize?”

“It’s been chaos down here since the war. I was helping Thanatos find escaped souls for a while. And there are hundreds of monsters loose in the Underworld, since the Doors of Death closed and they can’t go directly to the mortal world anymore. Not to mention all the people that died in the various accidents Gaea caused. We’re still trying to make room for them all. I’ve been recruiting extra workforce for Daedalus to expand the Fields of Asphodel. Even Elysium is starting to become too small.”

Jason laughed slightly, mostly at the absurdity of it all. “Sounds like you’ve been busier than I have, which is saying a lot. How about a vacation? In New Rome, with Hazel?”

“I can’t just run off. I have responsibilities here.” Nico said, sounding unsure. Jason took a good look at him. He seemed really tired, and almost looked starved. Jason wondered when he last had a decent meal and a good night’s sleep.

“If it helps, you can tell them I kidnapped you.” he said, giving Nico a smile. “I promised Hazel I would bring you back, so don’t think I wouldn’t.”

Nico gave him a pale grin in return, and Jason was surprised to see it didn’t look creepy. “I’ll go talk to my dad. You wait here.”

Jason sat down on the bed to wait as Nico disappeared out the door. The bed was hard as rock, and the room seemed even gloomier after Nico left, which was saying a lot, considering Nico didn’t exactly radiate sunshine. Jason thought it was no wonder the boy looked tired, he wouldn’t have wanted to sleep in here either. It struck him that he was probably the only living human that Nico had ever brought to this room. The thought made him sad. Nico really needed more living, breathing friends. Or to at least recognize the one’s he already got. Jason silently vowed not to let the boy back into the Underworld until he did.

After a while Nico came back, looking more relaxed.

“Dad gave me permission to leave.” he said. “Not that I really need it, but it’ll make coming back easier. Let’s go.”

“Lead the way.” Jason said, following Nico out the door. He was glad to have a guide, but more than that he was glad to have company. Jason had rarely been on a solo mission in his life, and coming to Hades alone had been scarier than he wanted to admit. Nico walked beside him in silence, but it felt comfortable anyway. One of the furies gave Jason a “I’m watching you”-gesture as they walked out of the palace.

“We have to take a little detour.” Nico said, shooting Jason an apologetic look. “I promised Cerberus I’d come see him today.”

“Cerberus. The three headed, giant dog.” Jason said, raising his eyebrows. 

“That’s the one.” Nico said, and Jason supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when Nico walked right up to the terrifying guardian of the Underworld and proceeded to scratch him behind the ears, saying something that sounded like “who’s a good dog.” Cerberus was obviously enjoying the attention. He was wagging his tail and his three heads seemed to be competing for the honor of being scratched. Still, the most remarkable thing about the scene wasn’t the three headed dog, but the fact that Nico di Angelo was _smiling_. 

It wasn’t one of the creepy, slasher smiles he used to give, nor was it one of the guarded ones Jason had been witness to on rare occasions. This was an unrestrained, happy smile directed at someone who didn’t judge him, but rather appreciated him. The smile completely transformed his face, and Jason realized that he was staring. _Beautiful_ was not a word he would ever have thought he’d use in relation to Nico di Angelo, but it was the only way he could describe what he was seeing. 

He took a few steps forward, which was when Cerberus noticed him and started growling.

“Easy, boy.” Nico said to the dog. “This is Jason Grace. You’re not allowed to eat him.” Cerberus whimpered a bit as two of his heads returned their attention to Nico. The third one still stared at Jason.

“I mean it. I’ll never pet you again if you do.” Nico said sternly to the dog, who apparently understood him, as the third head bent down to be scratched again. Nico turned towards Jason. “Come say hi.”

Jason’s first instinct was to ask if Nico was kidding, but then he realized there was a challenge in Nico’s eyes. “How much do you trust me?” Nico had asked him once, while handing him a goblet of poison. This was the the same thing. Thinking about Nico’s unrestrained smile, Jason steeled himself and walked over to the boy and his dog.

“Hi.” he said uncertainly, reaching out as if Cerberus had been a much smaller dog. Jason feared he would lose his hand when one of the heads took a quick sniff at it, but after deciding he wasn’t a threat, or a snack, the dog quickly lost interest in him. Jason felt relieved and a little offended at that. 

“Sorry, boy. I have to get going.” Nico finally said, giving Cerberus a brief smile when he whimpered. “I promise to stop by when I get back.”

“I take it not many people pet him?” Jason asked as the giant dog watched them walk away, looking sad and abandoned in the way only dogs know how. Nico nodded.

“He scares them off, and he doesn’t trust strangers.” Nico said. “But he’s cute once you get to know him.”

“Sounds like someone else I know.” Jason ventured. Nico scowled at him, but didn’t comment.

Nico stopped briefly a couple of times on the way, exchanging words with dead people and various monsters who served his father, but they soon found their way out of the Underworld. Jason took a deep breath, invigorated by the wind around him.

“Ah, that’s better.” he murmured. “Fresh air.”

“Ah, yes, fresh fumes.” Nico said sarcastically. “Grab my arm. We’re shadow traveling to Camp Jupiter.”

Jason didn’t argue, though shadow travel really wasn’t his favorite form of transport. He felt like someone had rearranged his intestines when his feet hit the grass of New Rome. 

“I don’t think I could ever get used to that.” he said. Nico smirked at him and opened his mouth to say something.

“Nico!” 

Hazel almost caused Nico to lose balance when she threw herself into his arms. “Thank the gods!” she sobbed. “I’ve been so worried. Where were you? What happened?”

“Er.” Nico said, overwhelmed even as he hugged her back. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I didn’t realize how long it’s been.”

“Don’t ever do this to me again, you hear me!” Hazel said, punching Nico lightly in the shoulder. “Promise me!”

“I promise.” Nico said, kissing Hazel’s cheek like he used to. Jason was grinning at them both, and Hazel finally noticed him standing there.

“Jason, thank you so much for going to get him.” she said, not letting go of her brother. 

“Don’t mention it.” Jason said. “I’m going to get something to eat. Don’t let him out of you sight.”

Hazel laughed. “I won’t.” she promised, probably only half-kidding as she continued to fuss over Nico, who just looked at her fondly. Jason left the siblings to their own devises and headed off to find some food, and then go to sleep. Hopefully Nico would still be there in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Frank came to see Jason during lunch the following day, thanking him for bringing Nico back.

“Hazel is so happy he’s here,” he said. “Off course, I kind of wanted to punch him for making her worry, but he said you’d already done that.”

Jason laughed. “He deserved it, and he knows that,” he said. “Are they around here somewhere?”

“Probably. Hazel said she was going take him to the Ice cream parlor before the war games start. Are you going to watch?”

“Yes, with the guests from Camp Half-Blood it will be interesting,” Jason said. He had actually been a part of arranging that, along with a kind of “exchange student”- system. Jason was hoping it wouldn’t turn into a bloodbath. ”Is Hazel going to be in it?”

“Yes, I think she wanted to keep an eye on things.” Frank nodded, clearly thinking along the same lines as Jason. “I think she would like for you to make sure Nico doesn't disappear while she’s busy, though.”

“I can do that.” Jason smiled. “But I don’t think he’s going anywhere, unless we try to put a leash on him.”

They met Hazel and Nico outside the arena where the war games would take place. Hazel seemed to be trying feed Nico chocolate chip cookies, which he apparently wasn’t so enthusiastic about.

“Come on. They’re good, you said so yourself,” Hazel urged him. “Just one.”

“I had one already.” Nico said, as if that was a solid argument as far as cookies were concerned. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“Right. Hold this,” Hazel said, shoving the bag of baked goods into Nico’s arms. “Hi, Frank. Hi, Jason. I’ve got to go.”

She stayed long enough to give Frank a kiss, then ran off to were the others were gathering. Frank followed here shortly afterwards to give the teams their orders, leaving Jason alone with Nico.

“Do you want a cookie?” Nico asked, lifting the bag in Jason’s general direction. “Hazel is trying to force feed them to me.”

Jason took one as they sat down to watch the games. Hazel was right, it was good. “She’s just trying to look after you. You still kind of look like you’re starving.”

“I’m not _starving_ ,” Nico said, turning a bit red. “I just don’t eat that much anymore.” 

Jason nodded. “You could do with a little more fat, though. Eat another cookie.” 

Nico have him a look that basically amounted to “not you too”, then ignored him in favor of watching the games. From far away it was hard to determine who was who, but the kids from Camp Half-Blood seemed to be working well together with the people from Camp Jupiter. Jason allowed himself to relax a bit. 

“So how come you’re not part of the games?” Nico asked after a while. Jason shrugged.

“I used to be. I was really good at it. They think being able to control the winds gives me an unfair advantage,” Jason said wistfully. Truth to be told he rather missed it, but the last game he’d been in had been almost embarrassingly easy to win.

Nico scoffed. “That’s just because no one’s thought to take the flag underground.”

“True, that would be a severe disadvantage,” Jason said. “Maybe we should try it sometime. You and Hazel against me.”

“Think I can’t take you by my myself?” 

For a moment Jason was afraid Nico had been offended, but looking over at the boy’s face he saw an amused smirk. “I don’t know. Can you? ” Jason challenged. “How about a match tonight, just you and me?”

“You’re on.” Nico grinned in a slightly creepy way that almost made Jason reconsider. “Prepare to get your ass kicked.”

Some time after dinner (where Jason confirmed that yes, Hazel was actively trying to fatten Nico up) Jason and Nico were walking away from camp together to find a spot where nothing important could be destroyed. By mutual agreement they hadn’t told Frank and Hazel about the match. As praetor, it would have been Frank’s duty to either forbid or make a big spectacle out of it. Nico had suggested they shadow travel away somewhere, but Jason disagreed.

“You would be too tired,” he said. “And I would be feeling sick. It wouldn’t be much of a battle.”

When they finally decided they were far away enough, they stopped and looked at each other for a while, neither of them wanting to make the first move. Then Nico sighed and drew his sword.

“Ready or not,” he said, and charged. 

At first, they were just using their swords, testing each other out without the help of their powers. Jason quickly realized that Nico, who had trained with a variety of dead people rather than just the instructors at the camps, had the advantage when it came to sword fighting. Jason was the first to break pattern and add his powers to the fight. 

Jason had been sparring with Percy a couple of times at Camp Half-Blood, but otherwise it had been ages since he’d fought another demigod with a strength that matched his own. Nico was nothing like Percy. Percy was a wildcard, sometimes incredibly sneaky, sometimes straightforward, but always hitting with all he got. Nico was all strategy, never exhausting all his power on a single attack. Being earthbound, he should have been at a disadvantage when Jason started flying, but he was agile and used his shadow travel to his advantage. Not to mention his skeletons were a big distraction. More than once Jason found himself narrowly avoiding a trap that could have ended the match. Blood was pumping in Jason’s veins and he found himself grinning. Nico wore a similar expression.

By mutual agreement, the match ended in a draw. They reached a point where they would either have to go all out and risk killing each other, or stop, and they seemed to reach that conclusion at the same time. Jason let the winds die out and landed, while Nico let his skeletons return to the Underworld.

“Man!” Jason exclaimed as he sunk down to lie on the ground. “That was great. I’m exhausted.”

“Me too,” Nico sighed, sitting down beside him. “I’m definitely not walking back to camp yet.”

“I can carry you,” Jason grinned. “Let me just catch my breath.”

“No thanks.” Nico made a face at him. “I hate flying.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad,” Jason said, sitting up on his elbows. ”I promise I won’t drop you.”

“Still no,” Nico said, looking up at the stars. “I’m hungry. Hazel would be proud.”

Jason laughed, then turned more serious. ”She loves you, you know.”

“I know,” Nico said, smiling slightly at the sky. Jason watched him, unsure whether he should continue or not. In the end he decided to go for it.

“She would accept you, if you told her.” 

Nico flinched and an irritated expression came over his face as he stubbornly continued looking at the stars. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“Really?”

“ _Really_.” 

“Then you don’t mind coming with me to visit Camp Half-Blood in a couple of days?” Jason ventured, and Nico finally turned to look at him. 

“Why?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. Jason shrugged as best he could in his current position.

“I have business there. And Percy and Annabeth wanted to see you,” Jason said. “Leo too, I bet.”

“Of course he would,” Nico snorted humorlessly. “Because Valdez and I are such good friends.”

“You could be, if you made an effort,” Jason said, hoping it was true. “Like with Cerberus.”

“Yeah, I bet Valdez loves getting his ears scratched,” Nico said, but this time he was grinning. Jason laughed at the mental image that produced.

“He’d set you on fire,” Jason said. “But seriously, come with me. Meet some living people.”

“Fine,” Nico scoffed, getting on his feet. “I’m going to head back.”

“Sure you don’t want me to fly us?” Jason teased him, and Nico just glared at him as an answer. Jason briefly considered just grabbing him and flying away like he had in Croatia, but decided against it. It was clear Nico was finally warming up to him, and he didn’t want to risk undoing the progress they had made.

As they were walking back towards camp, Jason noticed Nico looked really uncomfortable, like he was trying to say something but wasn’t sure if he should.

“What is it?” Jason finally asked, and Nico shook his head.

“It’s none of my business, really,” he said. “But I noticed you haven’t mentioned McLean. Where is she?”

“Oh,” Jason said. “She’s with her father. He’s promoting some new movie of his, I think they’re in Washington right now.”

“I would have thought...” Nico trailed off, but Jason could guess what he meant. He didn’t want to talk about it, but how was he supposed to convince Nico to be more open if he refused to talk about his own feelings?

“We had an argument, of sorts,” Jason finally said. “And we decided we needed some space.”

Nico didn’t say anything after that, but Jason could tell the news surprised him. It wasn’t that weird, Jason himself was still surprised sometimes when he thought about it. After everything they had been through, it was strange that it had turned out like this. He had honestly thought they’d be together forever, but now he was starting to suspect they were better as friends. Still, maybe they’d be able to work it out when she came back.

 

A few days later Nico shadow travelled them both to Camp Half-Blood and they appeared just a few yards away from the statue of Athena. Nico looked at the statue with a painful expression. Jason figured he probably looked the same. Even after visiting the Camp dozens of times, he still felt like crying every time he looked at the statue. For a moment he considered walking over there to pay his respects, but Nico had told him Reyna had chosen rebirth, so she wouldn’t be listening.

Resolutely he turned away and led them towards the dining area, where they found Percy and Annabeth waiting.

“Jason! Nico!” Percy exclaimed happily when he noticed them and hurried over. “Glad to see you’re alright, we were worried for a while.”

“I can take care of myself,” Nico murmured. Jason watched as his defenses came back up in full force as soon as Percy spoke. Maybe he really had given up on his crush, maybe not, but it was clear he was as uncomfortable as ever. Percy didn’t seem to notice anything strange. For some reason it made Jason angry.

“We know that, but anything can happen,” Annabeth said gently, coming up beside Percy. 

“Yes, and you shouldn’t overlook your friends, remember?” Percy said. “You told me that yourself.”

“Right,” Nico said, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot like he wanted to run away.

“Have you guys seen Leo anywhere?” Jason asked, mostly to distract them. 

“He’s in the bunker again. I think he sleeps over there nowadays,” Annabeth said, in a tone that suggested she didn’t approve. “I hope you can get him to come out of there, at least for a little while.”

Annabeth led them through the forest, towards Bunker 9. Percy attempted to strike up a conversation with Nico as they walked, but Nico stuck to short, one sentence answers. Jason tried to help as best he could, but it ended with mostly him and Percy talking, and Nico walking along in silence.

“Is Mrs. O’Leary still around?” Nico suddenly asked, interrupting Percy’s rant about the Roman “exchange students” at Camp Half-Blood. 

“Yeah, she’s around here somewhere. Do you want to see her?” Percy grinned, apparently happy Nico was finally talking to him. Nico nodded.

“She’s definitely the friendliest hellhound I’ve ever met,” he said. “I asked Daedalus how he trained her, but he wouldn’t say.” 

“There’s nothing on his laptop about it either,” Annabeth said. “A pity, knowing how to tame hellhounds would have been useful.”

“Considering how you were petting Cerberus I don’t think you need his advice.” Jason smiled towards Nico, who looked away embarrassed.

“Cerberus was already tame. It’s different.” he muttered, looking at the ground. 

They reached the bunker, and a loud swearing met them in the doorway.

“Why doesn’t it work? Come on, you stupid thing...”

Leo was standing in his workshop, tinkering with a strange device involving the crystal he’d brought back from Calypso’s island. Jason had walked in on this same scene a dozen times over the last six months, though Leo seemed to be getting thinner and more unkempt each time. In a strange way, he was starting to resemble Nico.

“Hi, Leo,” he greeted, and Leo jumped, having apparently been so engrossed in his work he hadn’t heard them come in.

“Jason, you’re back. Don’t sneak up on me like that,” Leo said, turning around to look at them. “And...Nico di Angelo! Excellent!”

Jason watched in surprise as a smile spread on Leo’s face. He walked over to Nico with determined steps. “Explain to me how shadow travel works.”

“What?” Nico asked, understandably confused.

“Shadow travel. Poof, you’re here. Poof, you’re there. Explain that to me,” Leo demanded, gesticulating wildly with his hands. “Or how you can just suddenly summon dead people from the Underworld. I need to know the mechanics.”

“It’s more magic than mechanics, I think,” Nico said, starting to back away slowly. Jason took pity on the guy.

“He can tell you about it at dinner,” Jason said, holding Leo back with a hand on his shoulder. “When was the last time you ate?”

 

Jason had never considered himself stupid, but he found himself completely unable to follow the discussion at the dinner table. They were all sitting at the Hades table, because it was empty and a little out of the way, and nobody bothered them even though they were breaking the rules. Despite his earlier dismissal of shadow travel as magic, Nico seemed to have a pretty good grasp on how it actually worked, and Leo and Annabeth were listening attentively, occasionally interrupting to ask a question. 

Looking over at Percy, Jason could see that he was equally lost. Percy smiled and shrugged over the table, and Jason nodded, also smiling, before returning his attention to Nico. The boy had apparently completely forgotten Percy was there. He was gesticulating just as wildly as Leo when he talked, and it seemed more like an actual conversation now. Maybe Nico could actually help Leo with his project.

After a while, Jason figured it was safe to leave Nico alone with his friends. He left them at the table, still talking, and went to see Chiron about the reason he was at Camp Half-Blood in the first place. They were trying to coordinate joined quests for the Camps, but the fact that the optimal number of people for a quest was three kept complicating things. He and Chiron spent quite a while trying to come up with a system that was favorable for both camps, considering Camp Half-Blood was so much smaller than Camp Jupiter.

The table was empty when Jason returned, but he ran into Annabeth outside the Athena cabin. 

“I more or less forced Leo to go to sleep in his actual bed, for once,” she said. “Percy and Nico went to see Mrs. O’Leary.”

“Alone?” Jason frowned. “That seems like a recipe for disaster.”

“I don’t think it’ll be _that_ bad,” Annabeth said uncertainly. “But if you want to check up on them, they’ll probably be behind the arena.”

Jason was already on his way when Annabeth stopped him. “Jason, wait,” she said hesitatingly. “Do you know why Nico is so angry at Percy all the time?”

“I can’t tell you,” Jason said. She looked like she was going to argue for a second, then thought better of it.

“Percy really wants to be his friend, you know,” she said sadly. “Do you think it’s possible?”

“They’re already friends,” Jason said. “Nico is just going through a lot right now.” 

He didn’t stay to explain himself, and Annabeth didn’t stop him again. Jason just hoped he hadn’t said too much. If Annabeth figured out Nico’s secret because of something Jason said, he could kiss their newly formed friendship goodbye.

He found them behind the arena just like Annabeth said, but he would have found them even without her instructions. The sounds of Mrs. O’Leary’s excited bark and running paws could be heard from far away.

“That’s it! Good girl!” Nico said, picking up the slimy ball Mrs. O’Leary left at his feet. She wiggled her tail and eyed the ball in expectation, then ran happily after it when Nico threw it again. Jason was honestly a bit surprised by how far he could throw.

“Hey,” Percy said when he saw Jason arrived. He was sitting on the ground, watching Nico and Mrs. O’Leary play with an amused smile. “Did you sort things out with Chiron?”

“It’s as good as it’s going to get.” Jason sighed, joining Percy on the ground as Mrs. o’Leary returned with the ball, looking proud of herself. ”Good girl.” Nico said again as he petted her behind her ears. Nico didn’t seem to be bothered by Percy’s presence, though he might have simple been distracted by the tank-sized hellhound. Jason still decided to take it as a good sign for the future.

“Were you able to help Leo out?” Jason asked, and Nico threw the ball again before turning around.

“I’m not sure. He’s going to show me his work tomorrow,” Nico said. “He said he needed a ‘fresh perspective,’ but I don’t think I’ll be of much use.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Percy laughed. “Leo have asked half the camp for a fresh perspective by this point. You can guess how much help I was.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t able to contribute either,” Jason said, laughing as Mrs. O’Leary returned and licked half Nico’s body affectionately to get his attention. Nico made a face, but apparently didn’t mind that much. 

“Why don’t you go say hello to Jason, girl?” Nico suggested evilly to the hellhound. “I bet he loves your kisses.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Jason said, but too late. Seconds later he was covered in hellhound saliva. Percy was rolling on the ground laughing at him, but Nico just grinned as Mrs. O’Leary walked back to him to get petted.

Later, after they had walked back to camp, Percy put a hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked.

“Sure,” Jason said hesitantly, turning towards Nico. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Nico snorted. “Stop behaving like I’m going to run off. I already promised Hazel not to,” he said, and disappeared inside the Hades cabin. 

“What is it?” Jason asked Percy, who looked a little lost.

“I just wanted to ask you how you did it,” he said, and Jason blinked. “What?”

“How did you figure Nico out?” Percy clarified. “He seems so much more at ease with you. Before you showed up behind the arena he barely spoke a word to me.”

“Huh,” Jason said, strangely satisfied that Percy had noticed their friendship. “Just give him time.”

“I’ve known him longer than you have,” Percy pointed out. “But he’s hard to understand.”

_No, he’s not_ , Jason thought, but he couldn’t say that. Instead he said: “He’s a good guy.”

“I know that,” Percy muttered. “He’s saved my life more than once. But sometimes I think he hates me.”

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t,” Jason said, feeling like they were close to a dangerous topic. “Anyway, I should be getting to bed.”

They said good night, and Jason went inside the Zeus cabin. The large statue of his father’s Greek aspect still unnerved him, but he supposed it was better than the mausoleum that was the Hades cabin, or the prison cell that was Nico’s room in the Underworld. The thought of Nico sleeping alone in either place made Jason uncomfortable, but there wasn’t anything Jason could do about it. _At least he’s promised not to run away this time._

Jason was startled awake the following morning by a loud banging on his door. He had barely sat up when Annabeth ran inside with a panicked look on her face. Jason was instantly wide awake.

“Are we under attack?” he asked, already reaching for his sword, but she shook her head.

“It’s Nico. He’s disappeared.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback from last chapter. Thank you guys so much! I'll try to put up the next chapter tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Hazel would probably be mad, but Nico hadn’t technically broken his promise. This was entirely Leo Valdez fault. Nico cursed under his breath as he looked around the beach. Valdez had woken him up early, and asked him to come to the bunker. He had been showing Nico some of the adjustments he’d made the previous day, and Nico had, unfortunately, touched the machine. The next thing he knew he was standing alone on a beach. He made an attempt to shadow travel, but it didn’t seem to work. Nico swore again.

“Who are you?” someone asked behind him, and Nico turned around, putting a hand on his sword, only to realize he had apparently left it behind. The girl in front of him didn’t seem dangerous, though. She had caramel hair up in a ponytail, and was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. She didn’t look particularly happy to see him.

“Nico di Angelo, son of Hades,” Nico said, ignoring the way her eyes widened. “You must be Calypso.”

She nodded. “I am. But there’s got to be some mistake,” she said, sounding desperate. Nico was too used to it to be offended.

“About me being here, you mean? You’re right about that,” Nico said tiredly. “Leo Valdez is to blame. One of his machines that were supposed to get you off this island accidently sent me here instead.”

“Leo?” she repeated, dazed. “He hasn’t forgotten about me?”

“Obviously not. So here’s to hoping he figures it out soon,” Nico said, sitting down in the sand. “No offence, but I’d rather not be stuck here for eternity.”

“You wouldn’t be. That’s my curse,” Calypso said, sinking down beside him. “The raft would come for you sooner or later.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” Nico said, trying not to sound bitter. It wasn’t her fault, after all. “Valdez told me how that works.”

“Unlucky love-life?” Calypso asked sympathetically, and Nico scowled.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” he said. He didn’t really want to even think about it, if he could help it. Besides, he’d given up on Percy a long time ago. Even if it was still hard to be around him, especially with him being so happy with Annabeth and all, Nico was moving on. To where, he had no idea, and honestly he dreaded to find out. He couldn’t go through another Percy. He really couldn’t.

“Aren’t you going to try to get off the island by yourself?” Calypso asked after a while. She didn’t sound like she particularly wanted him to, which Nico took as a compliment.

“I already tried shadow travel,” he answered, feeling around as he spoke. “It doesn’t seem like I have any access to the Underworld either. Short of building a raft, there isn’t much I can do.”

“Oh,” she said, then was quiet for a while. “Tell me about Leo. Are you two friends? How is he doing?”

Nico wouldn’t have called Leo Valdez a _friend_ , exactly, but he answered her questions as best he could. Despite her first reaction, she didn’t seem too put off by spending time with a son of Hades. Not that she had any other company to choose from. Nico supposed he was better than nothing.

After Nico had told her everything he knew about Valdez and his machines, Calypso was muttering to herself, apparently trying to talk herself out of hoping while simultaneously being happy that Valdez remembered her, was trying to free her and hadn’t found anyone else. 

Later when she invited him to her garden to eat dinner, he readily agreed. After all, he’d been imprisoned in much worse places. This wasn’t so bad.

 

“This is bad. This is really, _really bad_ ,” Leo was muttering as he fiddled with the device that had made Nico disappear, presumably to Calypso’s island. Leo had theorized that, since he incorporated elements of shadow travel into the device, it had reacted to Nico’s touch and sent him away. Jason didn’t really care about the mechanics of it all.

“How bad? You can get him back, right?” Jason said. “The device already worked one way.”

“I’m trying,” Leo yelled, looking exhausted. “But like Nico said, it’s part magic. And I don’t really understand magic.”

“I’ll contact Piper and Hazel,” Jason determined. “You keep working on that.” 

He left Leo muttering something about mechanics behind his back. Leo hadn’t said it out loud, but Jason was pretty sure the fact that Nico was gone didn’t stress him as much as Nico being on Calypso’s island did. Calypso had a reputation of falling for the men coming to her island, after all. Part of Jason almost hoped she would fall in love with Nico. If Leo couldn’t get the machine working, it might be the only way for Nico to come back.

He contacted Hazel first, even though he really wasn’t looking forward to telling her Nico was missing again. She took it well, all things considered, and promised to fly to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible. The tomorrow morning, at the very latest. When Jason contacted Piper, she seemed more distressed for Leo’s sake than for Nico’s, but she made the same promise Hazel had.

Jason spent the rest of the day sparring with Percy. Neither of them were completely concentrated on the match, but it was a good way to get rid of useless energy. They had wanted to help Leo, but Annabeth had told them, in the most considerate way possible, that they would only be in the way.

Jason was surprised by how hard he took the whole thing. It wasn’t like Nico was in any immediate danger, and they did have a good chance of getting him back. Still, he was more worried than he cared to admit.

 

Nico tried shadow travel at least twice a day, with no success. Calypso encouraged him not to give up, though she knew as well as he did that it was not going to work. They spent a lot of time together, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting silently, but it didn’t feel awkward anymore. They had had a couple of fights, but all in all she was a pretty easy person to get along with. He didn't want to admit it, but in some ways, she reminded Nico of Bianca.

One day, when they were sitting in her garden eating dinner, she asked him if there was a girl waiting for him back home.

Nico shook his head. “No girl,” he said simply, slightly uncomfortable, and she nodded.

“A boy, then?” Calypso asked casually, and Nico almost had a heart attack.

“What? No, there’s nobody,” he managed, a little too late. He could tell she didn’t believe him, and he _really_ didn’t want to talk about this.

“Are you sure?” she asked, frowning. “There must be somebody you...”

Nico was panicking, even more so when he realized the grass he was sitting on was starting to wither and die. He ran off without another word, partly because he didn’t want to destroy her garden, but mostly to get away from that conversation. Despite what Jason had told him, he still hated that part of himself. He didn’t want to acknowledge it existed. He ran all the way down to the beach and sunk down in the sand, were his presence wouldn’t poison the environment any more than it already had.

Calypso found him there some time later. “You left a ring of dead grass in my garden.” she scolded, sitting down beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched. Nico scooted in the other direction, trying not to be too obvious about it. 

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Calypso said, then was quiet for a while. “Do you want to talk about it? I am the expert on unrequited love, after all.”

“There’s nothing to say. I’m over it, anyway,” Nico said, looking down at the sand they were sitting in. 

“But it still hurts. I can relate to that,” Calypso said. For a long while they sat there in silence, just watching the waves of the ocean surrounding their prison, then Calypso sighed.

“You want me to teach you how to weave?” she asked, and Nico shrugged. 

“Why not,” he said. There wasn't a whole lot to do on the island anyway.

When they came back to her garden, she looked around, bewildered. She seemed to be searching for something.

“What is it?” Nico asked. She looked up at him, confused.

“Someone has stolen my lunch table.”

 

“How is this helping?” Percy asked, looking at the table that had suddenly appeared in the bunker. Leo scoffed at him, but Jason could tell he was excited.

“This is Calypso’s table, brought here from the island,” Leo said. “This means the machine is working!”

“That’s great,” Percy said. “Don’t get me wrong, but are you just going to randomly bring pieces of the island here, hoping to get Nico and Calypso eventually?” 

Jason had to admit he had a point, but Leo just grinned.

“That’s where the magic comes in,” Leo said. “Piper, do you think you could charm speak the machine into giving us Calypso? And Nico?”

Piper seemed unsure. “I can try,” she said. “But I don’t even know Calypso, and I barely know Nico. I might not be able to tell it what I want.”

“We’ll help you,” Hazel said determinedly. “If Leo and Percy concentrate on picturing Calypso, and the rest of us focus on Nico, it should help the magic work.”

“That seems vague, but I’m willing to try it,” Leo grinned. “How do we do this?”

“We hold hands,” Hazel said, taking hold of Piper with her left hand and Jason with her right. “And we concentrate. It might help to say their names.”

They stood in a half circle in front of the machine, holding hands. Leo activated the machine and Piper started talking to it, telling the machine it really wanted to give them Nico and Calypso. She sounded convincing, but Jason doubted it would work. He closed his eyes anyway and concentrated on Nico, as Hazel had instructed. She was muttering Nico’s name like a mantra beside him. 

The first image that popped into Jason’s head was Nico smiling happily at Cerberus as he petted him. He thought, not for the first time, that he wanted Nico to aim a smile like that at Jason someday. He focused on Nico’s rare smile, his onyx eyes, the dark mess that was his hair. Jason was almost surprised by how easy it was to envision Nico, down to the last detail.

A loud noise shook Jason from his thoughts, and he opened his eyes to see two people sprawled half on top of each other on the floor in front of him, like they had been dropped from the sky and didn’t have a very successful landing. He didn’t recognize the girl, but there was no mistaking the boy underneath her.

“Nico!” Hazel exclaimed happily, lunging forward to help her brother up and hug him tightly, as Leo did the same for Calypso. “Told you I would do it!” Leo grinned towards her.

“I was so worried,” Hazel told Nico as she untangled herself from him. There were tears in her eyes. ”You promised you wouldn’t disappear again.”

“This time it wasn’t my fault,” Nico said, glancing over at Leo. Then he met Jason’s eyes.

Jason hadn’t been planning on doing it, knowing how uncomfortable Nico was with physical contact, but he couldn’t help himself. Nico let out a surprised yelp as Jason walked over and threw his arms around him.

“Thank the gods you’re alright,” Jason muttered into Nico’s hair. The boy was completely tense in his arms, so Jason let go quickly enough. Nico’s face was red, but he didn’t seem angry.

“Of course I’m alright,” he murmured, clearly embarrassed. Jason smiled at him. 

Leo introduced Calypso to the rest of them. She was clearly a bit uncomfortable with Percy, which was starting to become a trend at this point, but she smiled and seemed genuinely happy to be there anyway. 

“We should take you to see Chiron, and get you settled in,” Annabeth said, ever practical.

“I’ll take her,” Leo said, smiling happily, but for the first time Calypso seemed a slightly unsure. She looked at Nico.

“I’ll see you later?” she asked, sounding a bit nervous. 

“Of course,” Nico said, smiling as he took a step forward and kissed her cheek. "Don’t worry, it’ll be fine." Calypso grinned at him, then grabbed Leo’s hand. “Come on.” she said, leading them out of the bunker. Leo cast a confused glance behind him as they left.

Looking around, Jason realized that the others were watching Nico uncertainly, like they thought he was moving in on Leo’s girl but weren’t sure if they could blame him for it. Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes. That had been the exact same kiss they’d seen him give Hazel dozens of times.

“So you’ve adopted her?” Jason asked, and Nico shrugged.

“She adopted me, I think,” he grinned. “How long has it been?”

“Three days,” Jason answered. “How long was it for you?”

“A couple of weeks or so,” Nico said, then frowned. “Why are you guys staring at me?”

“Sorry,” Percy said. “You didn’t fall for Calypso, then? Leo was worried you would.”

“I bet he was.” Nico scoffed, casting an uncertain glance at Jason, who gave him a disgruntled face in return. When was Nico going to realize that Jason wouldn’t sell him out?

“Right.” Hazel said, probably noticing the tension in the room. “Anyone hungry?”

 

Piper took Jason aside after dinner. She looked serious, and a little sad.

“I think we should break up,” she said, and Jason couldn’t honestly say he was surprised.

“Are you sure?” he still tried. “I think we could make it work.

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t be the same. It hasn't been since before I left. You know that,” Piper said with a melancholy smile. “Besides, I don’t think you even like me that way anymore.”

Jason hadn’t really thought about it, but her words rang true. He still loved her, though more as a sister or a really close friend. Jason wondered when that had happened.

“I guess you’re right,” he said, and she hugged him, kissing his cheek in a similar manner that Nico had done to Calypso.

“You know, my mother once told me I had the ability to see what could be. Potential futures,” she said. “I may have seen one for you today.”

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked, utterly confused, but Piper just shook her head.

“You’ll figure it out.” She smiled teasingly.

 

Nico volunteered to bring Piper and Hazel back to their homes in the evening. Hazel declined, saying she’d take the opportunity to ride Arion, but Piper was quick to agree. She hugged Jason again before leaving, telling him to “keep an open mind.” Jason didn’t know what she meant.

He went to bed early that evening, and fell asleep immediately, exhausted after spending three days in a constant state of worry. A few hours later he was woken by the sound of knocking on the door. Yawning and still half asleep, Jason got up to answer.

Nico was standing outside, his breath visible in the cold night air. His eyes widened in surprise, and Jason suddenly realized he was only wearing his pajama pants. 

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Nico asked, averting his eyes and looking embarrassed. 

“It’s okay. Come in. It’s freezing out here,” Jason said, stepping back into the cabin and putting on one of his purple t-shirts, for the sake of decency and warmth. Nico closed the door behind him, then stepped deeper into the cabin and looked around.

“How can you sleep with that thing looking at you?” he asked, pointing towards the statue of Zeus. Jason laughed.

“I asked myself the same thing the first time, but you get used to it,” he said, sitting down on his bed and gesturing for Nico to join him. 

“I don’t want to keep you up,” Nico said hesitatingly, remaining where he was. “I just came by to tell you I got Piper home safely. And…” he trailed off.

“And?” Jason asked expectantly.

“Are you okay? She told me you two broke up,” Nico said, sounding concerned and more than a little bit uncomfortable. Jason blinked. He hadn’t expected that.

It was surprising that Piper had told Nico about it. They weren’t really close, and Jason and Piper hadn’t exactly announced their separation to the whole group. He also doubted Nico had asked her about it.

“I’m fine,” Jason assured him. “It was a long time coming.”

Nico nodded awkwardly. “Right. Goodnight then,” he said, turning around to leave.

“Wait!” Jason shouted from the bed. “You woke me up. At least entertain me for a bit.”

“What?” Nico asked, confused, and Jason smiled.

“Tell me about Calypso’s island,” he suggested. “We never really got the chance to talk during dinner.”

“You’re telling me you want a bedtime story?” Nico smirked, and finally walked over and sat down beside Jason.

“Yes, exactly,” Jason said. Nico rolled his eyes and started talking. He told Jason about the island, and how he met Calypso. Nico spoke about her with a brotherly fondness that made Jason smile. At some point in the story both of them curled up under Jason’s blanket to keep warm. It was a really cold night.

“Really?” Jason asked at one point in the story. “You can knit?”

“Calypso taught me,” Nico said, looking flustered. “Knitting and crocheting and weaving. I’m pretty bad at it, though.”

“It’s still kind of hard to picture you sitting down with needles and yarn.” Jason said, and Nico shrugged.

“There wasn’t much else to do,” he said. “I thought her some sword fighting, and she thought me to knit.”

He looked away. “A few nights ago she told me she had expected the raft to come for me, because she didn’t want me to leave, but it apparently only works with romantic love. I think she had given up hope to be rescued herself at that point. She said she was sorry she couldn’t fall in love with me.”

“And what did you say?”

“I told her I was glad she didn’t, because I wouldn’t have been able to return her feelings,” Nico said, looking down at the floor.

“Does she know?” Jason asked, cursing mentally as Nico flinched. Jason expected him to get up and leave, but he didn’t.

“We didn’t really talk about it. I sort of freaked out when she tried,” he said quietly. “But I think she guessed.”

“Nobody else would mind either, you know,” Jason said gently, but Nico shook his head.

“Don’t. Let’s not have this conversation right now,” he said, looking agitated. Jason wished he could make Nico accept himself, but he had to give the boy some space and let him figure things out on his own. All he could do was be there for him, and at least Nico was finally allowing him to do that. When Jason had gone into the Underworld to find him a few weeks ago he’d never have imagined them both sitting in his bed sharing stories and a blanket. It was good progress.

“So...” Jason said, desperately trying to find another topic to talk about. “What’s your favorite color?”

“What?” Nico asked, frowning. “Why would you care?”

“I’m trying to get to know you better. What’s your favorite color?”

“Take a wild guess,” Nico said, gesturing towards his all-black clothing. ”I suppose yours is purple.”

“Blue, actually,” Jason said. “I’m not _completely_ predictable.”

“Right,” Nico smirked. “Of course you’re not.”

“Hey!”

It got pretty late before Nico headed back to the Hades cabin. Jason offered to sleep on the floor if he wanted to stay the night, but Nico scoffed.

“I think I can handle the ten yard walk to my own cabin, even if it is a bit cold,” he said. “Besides, I don’t like the way your father looks at me.”

The Jupiter cabin felt eerily quiet and empty after Nico left. Jason thought he should have been used to it by now. It was strange, how much he’d wanted Nico to stay. The son of Hades was surprisingly good company, provided you knew which topics to stay away from. Thinking back, it was hard to believe Jason once thought of him as creepy and off putting. Nico was quickly turning into one of the best friends Jason had ever had. 

Of course, Jason had never actively had to pursue a friendship before. Nico kept taking two steps forward and one step back. Jason was never really sure what he’d be allowed to do or say without scaring or angering the son of Hades. It was a slow progress, but Jason thought what they had manage to achieve was very valuable. Nico just needed to accept himself, and Jason was determined to find a way to help him.

 

Nico and Calypso were sitting at the Hades table eating breakfast the following morning. They seemed to be having a spirited conversation. Calypso was laughing and Nico looked pretty at ease, despite the odd, frightened looks the other campers occasionally still gave him. Jason wished he could make them stop looking at Nico like that.

“Do you think I should be worried?” Leo asked, coming up behind Jason. He seemed in better shape than he had been in a long time, well rested and groomed, but he looked uncertainly over at the Hades table.

“Not unless you cheat or hurt her in some way,” Jason said. “Nico seems the type to rain hell over anyone who messes with his sisters, and I bet Calypso can hold her own as well.”

“Sister?” Leo repeated. “You think that’s all it is? How can you be sure?”

“I talked to Nico. He told me,” Jason said simply. Leo stared at him.

“Wow, how did I miss this? When did you two become buddies?” he asked, grinning. “You’re even starting to look like him.” He pointed at the dark circles under Jason’s eyes. Jason scowled at him. He had been lying awake for most of the night, trying to figure out a way to help Nico, or at least talk to him about it without Nico blowing up at him. He hadn’t been able to figure anything out.

“Shut up!” was all the comeback he could manage, and Leo laughed at him all the way to the Hades table. 

“Isn’t is against the rules for you two to sit here?” Calypso asked, smiling as they put their trays down.

“Technically, but I doubt anyone wants to fight us about it,” Jason said, sitting down beside Nico, who frowned at him.

“You look terrible,” he said, which caused Leo to start laughing again.

“See? Even he agrees!” Leo said, ignoring Jason’s glare.

“It’s nothing,” Jason said, turning to Calypso instead. “How do you find the camp?”

“A little overwhelming. There’re so many people here.” she smiled. “But it’s also really exciting. Everything is so different.”

“It’ll get easier, once you...” Nico trailed off, looking around at something behind him. Jason couldn’t see anything, but the air suddenly felt a few degrees colder.

“What do you want?” Nico asked the air, getting up from the table and facing away. After a long silence he continued: “Fine. I’ll be there. Be gone with you.”

“What was that?” Jason asked as Nico sat back down. He looked tired. Leo, and evidently half the camp, was watching Nico like he’d gone crazy.

“A spirit. Message from my dad,” he said. “Apparently vacation’s over.”

“You’re leaving?” Calypso asked, sounding a little frightened. “Now?”

“I can stay until tonight,” Nico said. “Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands. Besides, I’ll come visit soon.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” she said. “You’re going back to the Underworld?”

“I’ll be fine, I practically live there anyway.”

Calypso didn’t look like that lessened her worry at all, and Jason silently agreed with her. The Underworld was definitely no place for a living being, even if he was the son of Hades. Annabeth and Percy seemed to share Jason’s worries when they were told.

“You know you don’t have to go back if you don’t want to, right?” Percy said. “You could stay here.”

“As I recall, we’ve had this conversation before,” Nico scowled. “And nothing's changed. I don’t belong here.”

“You could, if you wanted to,” Jason said gently, and the glare Nico sent him told him Nico knew exactly what he meant. Percy, however, didn’t and was nodding enthusiastically. 

“Right. Just give it a chance,” he said, and Jason could see Nico fighting hard not to lose it. If Calypso hadn’t been present he would probably have exploded.

“Well, it’s your choice,” Jason said loudly to end the arguments. “Did you talk to Hazel already?”

“Yes, she said to come visit as soon as I can, or she’ll send you to fetch me again,” Nico said, in a better mood now that he wasn’t being backed into a corner. “Thought I should warn you.”

“Well, if that’s what it takes.” Jason shrugged. Nico stared at him for a long time after that. 

The day passed by quickly, but Nico stayed until after they’d all said goodnight. Calypso kissed him on the cheek before heading off towards the big house, where she was staying. Nico was walking towards the Zeus cabin with Jason after all the others have disappeared.

“You want to come in for a while?” Jason asked, but Nico shook his head.

“Nah, I have to get going soon. I just wanted to say...” he stared, but seemed to lose his words. 

“What?” Jason smiled, after Nico had been silent for a while.

“Thank you. You know, for coming to find me. And dragging me back,” Nico said, blushing and unable to look Jason in the eyes. “I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jason said. “We care about you, you know.”

“Right,” Nico laughed humorlessly, and Jason was suddenly angry. How was it even possible that, even after everything, the kid still didn’t believe him? Jason walked up to him and took a firm hold of his shoulders.

“Why is this so hard for you to understand?” he asked, more harshly than he intended. “ _I care about you_! No matter how low an opinion you have of yourself, you must see that by now!”

Nico was staring at him, apparently speechless. He was as tense as a bowstring, and Jason realized he only had seconds until he snapped. He quickly let go of Nico’s shoulders, and took a step back to give him some space.

“Sorry, I forgot you don’t like being touched,” Jason said. 

“Yeah, well, I doubt anyone likes being grabbed and yelled at,” Nico muttered, his voice shaking slightly. But he didn’t shout or run off, so Jason counted it as a victory. “I should get going.”

“You’ll be back soon, right?”

“I already promised, didn’t I?” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “See you later.”

“What, no hug?” Jason joked, spreading his arms out. Nico glared at him, which Jason had expected, but he also took a step forward and put his arms around Jason’s waist, which, honestly, Jason wouldn’t have predicted in a million years. He was so surprised he almost missed the opportunity to hug back.

Nico was surprisingly warm against his chest. It was a sharp contrast to the chilly air, and Jason found he didn’t want to let go. It was a strange revelation for another time, because Nico cleared his throat against Jason’s shoulder.

“Anytime you want to let go of me is fine,” Nico said, sounding embarrassed and a little bit panicked. For a moment Jason was tempted to hold on anyway, but he suspected that would end with himself in the Apollo cabin, severely injured. Reluctantly he let go. Nico quickly stepped back, and disappeared into the shadows without another word. Jason remained in place for a moment, then turned around and entered his cabin, wondering if that had really just happened.

Nico di Angelo had hugged him, even after Jason had gotten angry and yelled at him. More than that, Jason really hadn’t wanted to let him go. Jason had plenty of friends that he loved and trusted, but he had never felt this strongly about any of them temporarily leaving him. Except maybe Piper.

_There is a potential future for you. Keep an open mind._

Suddenly it dawned on Jason what Piper had been talking about before she left. Nico. Piper had seen a potential future between him and Nico. That’s why she told Nico they’d broken up, and why she told Jason to keep an open mind. Of course, she didn’t really know Nico. She hadn’t realized how impossible it was.

Jason sunk down on his bed with his head in his hands. Now that he had realized it, it was pretty obvious that he’d had a crush on Nico for quite some time. Since he saw him smiling in the Underworld, at least. Maybe longer. Suddenly he appreciated Nico’s feelings in a whole new way, because there was no way this was going to work out the way he wanted it to.

Jason wasn’t sure whether Nico had really given up on Percy or not, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. Nico knew Jason wanted him to come out to his friends, and if Jason suddenly declared his love for him… The kid had barely accepted that they were friends. There was no way he was going to believe Jason’s feelings were sincere. And even if by some miracle Jason managed to convince him, Nico still didn’t feel the same. Comparing Nico’s behavior towards Percy and towards Jason made that painfully obvious.

“Fuck!” Jason swore, throwing himself down on his bed. _So this is what it feels like to be Nico di Angelo,_ Jason thought bitterly. _He was right. I didn’t understand anything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you guys so much for reading! the final chapter should be up either tomorrow or Saturday, depending on how much time I have.


	4. Chapter 4

The following days went by in a blur while Jason tried to come to terms with his feelings. He'd never felt particularly attracted to guys before, and still didn't. Then again, he hadn't exactly been actively chasing girls either. Jason had never really needed to _chase_ anyone. He was the son of Jupiter, powerful and fairly good looking, which seemed to be enough to get most people to like him.

Nico was different

If anything, being all those things had just made it harder for him to befriend Nico. For once Jason actually had to fight to gain somebody's trust, and he _had_ fought, he had tried so hard to be there for Nico. As a result, Nico probably knew Jason better than some of the people Jason grew up with, and Jason finally knew for sure that someone accepted him for what he was, not what they expected him to be.

Falling in love with Nico felt like a betrayal of that hard-won trust, and yet, the more Jason thought about it, the surer he became that this was something he wanted. He was also sure he had no chance whatsoever. It was slowly driving Jason insane.

Jason spent a few more days at Camp Half-Blood, trying to act as normal as possible, and then returned to New Rome. In order to avoid thinking too much, he kept himself busy. Considering he had somewhat neglected his duties during Nico’s stay (gods, how had he not _realized_?) finding things to do really wasn’t hard. Everybody seemed to want his help with everything, and Jason was happy to comply. Hazel looked worried when he met her about a couple of weeks later.

“You look exhausted,” she said. “Are you eating enough?”

Jason wanted to laugh. Now Hazel was starting to force him to eat more as well. He thought about Nico and him eating cookies during the last war game. He wondered if Nico was starving away in the underworld again.

Chasing the thought away, Jason just smiled at Hazel. “I’m ok, I just have a lot to do right now. Have you heard anything from Nico since he went back?”

She shook her head. “No, but I expect he’ll turn up soon. I gave him a three week time limit, after all.”

“And if he doesn't show?”

“I threatened to send you after him again,” Hazel said. “But you look like you’re heading to the Underworld anyway. You should take better care of yourself.”

Jason promised her that he would, and then continued working as he had before. Two days later day he left for Camp Half-Blood, to oversee ten exchange students from the legion, the largest exchange yet. Annabeth gave him approximately the same speech as Hazel had when he arrived, and Jason ignored her as well, smiling and telling her he was fine. Even Percy seemed unconvinced.

After three days of coordinating, shouting and cleaning up messes, someone knocked on the door just as Jason was going to bed. Wondering who in Hades needed his help _this time_ , Jason threw the door open. And froze.

“Wow, Hazel wasn’t kidding. You look terrible,” Nico di Angelo said, standing outside the door, shivering in the increasingly cold weather. “Can I come in?”

“You’re back,” Jason said, walking forward and throwing his arms around Nico without a second thought. Nico tensed immediately, as usual, but he did briefly hug Jason back. Jason couldn’t help but smile happily.

“Nice to see you too,” Nico muttered, flustered, when Jason finally let go of him. “I went to see Hazel yesterday, and she told me you were here. I figured I’d come visit.”

“I’m glad you did,” Jason said, closing the door behind him as Nico walked into the cabin. “I’ve missed you.”

“What, you missed me so much you stopped eating and sleeping?” Nico teased, but he was blushing, which took the edge of his words. Also, he was kinda right. Not that Jason was going to tell him that.

“I’ve been busy,” he said dismissively. “Calypso and Leo went on a trip two days ago. You just missed them.”

“I know, I sent her an Iris-message,” Nico said. “She seems happy with Valdez.”

“He’s a good guy,” Jason agreed. “And I think we’re way past the point when you should start calling him Leo.” 

Nico just shrugged and sat down on Jason’s bed like he had before. Jason did his best to remain casual about that, but he left a good foot of space between them when he sat down beside Nico. Nico didn’t seem to notice.

“Hazel said I should return the favor and force you to take some kind of vacation.” he said, looking over at Jason. “After seeing you, I agree with her. You look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks,” Jason said. “But I can’t just leave. I’ve got responsibilities...”

“That’s what _I_ said, remember?” Nico grinned. “If I wanted, I could just grab you and shadow travel to China, you know.”

“You wouldn’t,” Jason said, though the part of him that didn’t think about responsibilities kind of hoped he would.

“Not unless I have to,” Nico said. “You need a break, whether you want it or not.”

Jason sighed. Going on a vacation with Nico was a really tempting, really bad idea. He’d worked so hard to form this friendship, and he didn’t want to lose it. 

“What do you have in mind?” Jason asked anyway, because he was a weak, weak person.

“Your call, unless it’s Vegas. Then you’re on your own,” Nico said, making a face at the very thought. Jason hesitated.

“I’d feel guilty just leaving like that. Isn’t there a quest we could go on?”

Nico snorted. “Asks the guy who has spent the last month delegating everything even vaguely resembling a quest to mixed teams from both camps. I doubt we could even find a shopping list.”

“Point taken,” Jason said, leaning back against the wall. “I’ve never really been on vacation before. I don’t know where to go. I don’t suppose you’re the sunbathing type.”

“What gave it away?” Nico drawled. “Still, your choice. Where do you want to go?”

“I guess I’d want to see Thalia,” he said after thinking about it for a while. “I haven’t seen her since after the battle. I don’t know where she is right now, though.”

“Ask her,” Nico suggested, getting up from the bed. “Then go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that he turned around and left. Jason watched the closed door for about a minute before throwing himself down on the bed again.

Talking with Nico hadn’t been nearly as awkward as he had feared. Still, he had to constantly keep himself from staring too long into those onyx eyes of his, and suppress the urge to move closer and touch him. He suspected he would fail sooner or later. Jason sighed deeply. Maybe he should reconsider telling Nico. At least then the other would see it coming.

It wasn’t really that late yet, so Jason got back up to send an Iris-message to his sister. He wasn’t sure if she would answer, but soon her face become visible before him. Thalia smiled widely when she saw him.

“Jason, hi!” she said. “How is it going? You look really tired.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot. Nico is dragging me on vacation,” Jason said. Her eyes widened.

“Nico di Angelo? Hades’ kid?” Thalia asked. “Now there’s a surprise. I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“Well, you and I haven’t really seen each other for a while,” Jason said. “Are you guys anywhere where we can visit?”

“I’d have to ask the group, but I think they would be okay with it, as long as you bring your own tent,” Thalia said. “I’ll message you tomorrow morning with details.”

“Sounds good. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too, little brother. See you soon.”

Thalia’s face disappeared as the message ended. Going back to bed, he wondered if he should talk to Thaila about Nico. She was his sister, but on the other hand asking the Hunters of Artemis about love was probably a bad idea. 

 

Jason was walking to breakfast after talking to Thalia the following morning when he saw Nico and Percy standing outside the Hades cabin, apparently in the middle of a discussion. Nico only seemed mildly irritated, not flustered and furious as he usually was when talking to Percy. Curious, Jason walked over to them.

“Morning,” Nico greeted when he noticed Jason. “Percy have just agreed to cover for you while we’re gone.”

“Sending Nico to negotiate for you was really low, you know,” Percy complained, but he was grinning. “You’re gonna owe me big for this.”

“I didn’t send… Are you sure?” Jason said, surprised by the situation. “Those exchange students are really green.”

“Don’t sweat it, man,” Percy said. “I can handle it. You go hang out on some beach watching girls in bikinis while I work two jobs.”

Jason resisted the urge to laugh loudly at that. “The only girl I’m interested in seeing is Thalia,” he said. “I talked to her, they will be expecting us tonight.”

“Tell her hi from me,” Percy said. “And to come visit the camp sometimes. It’s been way too long.”

Then Percy’s smile faltered, and he looked uncertainly at Nico. “Are you okay with this?” he asked. “I mean, after what happened...”

“I’ll be fine,” Nico interrupted, eyes blazing. For a moment Jason wondered what they were talking about, then it dawned on him. Bianca, Nico’s older sister, had joined the Hunters of Artemis and died. That was before Jason knew him, but he should have remembered it anyway. Jason mentally slapped himself.

“ _I’ll be fine_ ,” Nico repeated, looking at Jason this time, like he had read his mind. “I don’t particularly like the hunters, but I have nothing against your sister.”

His tone didn’t allow for further discussions. 

Jason spent the day explaining the situation to a variety of different people that relied on him. Some were encouraging, some tried to talk him out of it. The worst thing was the looks of disappointment they gave him, like he wasn’t all they expected him to be. Jason really didn’t like disappointing people. However, when Jason sent an Iris-message to Frank, the praetor just seemed relieved.

“Finally!” Frank said. “You’ve been working harder than me, and that should be physically impossible. I’m glad Nico managed to talk some sense into you.”

“He said it was Hazel’s idea.”

“She suggested it, but you know Nico never does anything he doesn’t want to.” Frank shrugged. “I think he needs a break as much as you do.”

Jason felt stupidly happy Nico had opted to spend vacation with him, if that was true. He kept trying to tell himself not to hope, but he was unable to stop the wide smile that spread on his face anytime he saw him. Especially now, when he was walking towards Jason with a backpack in one hand and a rolled up tent in the other.

“What?” Nico asked when he noticed Jason’s expression.

“Nothing.” Jason shook his head. “Are you ready?”

Nico nodded. “Give me your hand.” he ordered, taking a firm hold when Jason did as he said. The world disappeared and reappeared before Jason’s eyes as they shadow traveled away from Camp Half-blood. Jason tried his best to steady himself when they finally reached the northern pine forest where the Hunters of Artemis were currently residing.

“You can let go now,” Nico mused beside him, and Jason realized he was still holding Nico’s hand.

“As soon as I’m sure I won’t topple over,” Jason said, smiling at him, then reluctantly letting go. 

“The hunters should be close by,” Nico said, not sounding very enthusiastic about it.

“If at any point you feel you want to leave, just tell me, okay?” Jason said, concerned, but Nico just rolled his eyes and didn’t answer. They started walking forward into the forest.

“You must be Thalia’s brother,” a voice from nowhere said a while later. Jason jumped, but Nico seemed unsurprised. He nodded towards a tree, and a young girl stepped out from behind it.

“Yes, I’m Jason Grace. This is Nico,” Jason introduced them, ignoring how unimpressed the girl looked. “Is Thalia around?”

“Follow me,” she said. She lead them through the forest to a clearing where a couple of tents stood raised. Thalia was sitting by the campfire, talking to some other girls, but she looked up when they approached.

“Jason!” she said, walking over to give Jason a big hug. “Good to see you, little brother.”

“You too, sis,” Jason said happily. “Thanks for having us.” Thalia smiled at him, then turned her attention to the boy at his side.

“Nico di Angelo. It’s been a long time,” she said, still smiling but sounding slightly uncertain. Nico nodded towards her.

“You guys hunting something specific?” he asked in lieu of a greeting. Thalia frowned.

“There are rumors of griffins hunting in these woods, but we have yet to see any,” she answered. “Things have slowed down a lot since the war ended. Not that I’m complaining.”

“You better not be,” Jason laughed. Thalia showed them around camp, and introduced them to her hunters. Some of them Jason vaguely recognized. A couple of them were smiling shyly, but others didn’t seem very thrilled about them being here. One of them was eyeing Nico, looking thoughtful and a little frightened.

“I don’t supposed I have to tell you two that my girls are off limits,” Thalia joked, but there was an air of seriousness to her.

“You have nothing to worry about.” Jason smiled, glancing at Nico, who just rolled his eyes. ”What have you been up to lately?”

They sat down by the fire, and Thalia told them how the Hunters had spent months tracking down the remains of Gaea’s army, the ones that ran away when it was becoming clear they were going to lose. At first they had been really busy, but things had been pretty slow lately. It had been a month since they last saw anything more threatening than a moose. One of the reasons Thalia had agreed to have them over was to liven things up a bit.

“We could use some sparring practice, if you two are up for it,” she said, and Jason agreed, not realizing until later that meant Nico and him against all of the hunters. About a dozen girls looked up at them with murder in their eyes. Jason gulped.

“You ready for this?” Jason asked Nico, who shrugged, though he looked a little paler than usual.

“You cover the air, I cover the ground?” he suggested. “And if things get ugly I shadow travel us the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Jason smiled. “Don’t kill anyone.”

The hunters attacked first, and Jason took to the air as Nico opened up the ground. Most of the hunters ignored his skeletons, concentrating on getting to Nico himself instead. Jason flew over to intercept them, while Nico blended into the shadows and reappeared behind the hunters, forcing half of them to turn around and come after him instead. Meanwhile skeletons kept appearing everywhere. _Divide and conquer._ Jason could work with that. Surrounding himself in wind, he made himself hard to land a hit on as he led the hunter away from Nico.

Thalia was the biggest threat. She was as powerful by herself as either of them by herself. Both Jason and Nico seemed to have the same tactic when it came to her, namely to move out of the way as soon as she got near. If the match had been one-one-one, Jason would have been happy to test his strength against hers, but with all the other girls around that would have been suicide. He could tell by the look on her face that she was becoming increasingly irritated with them.

At the end of the day it was impossible to say who’d have won if it had been an actual battle rather than a practice match. Jason and Nico had managed to hold their own, but the moment Thalia called stop they both sunk down to their knees, exhausted. The Hunters of Artemis were in much better condition, but then again there were five times as many of them.

“Good work, everybody,” Thalia said. “Now let’s get dinner ready.”

Jason’s legs were shaking of exhaustion as he walked over to Nico, who didn’t even attempt to get up.

“You okay?” he asked, sitting down beside him. Nico gave a strained laugh.

“As long as no more girls attack me, I’ll be fine,” he said. “I could fall asleep right here.”

“That was quite a show, you two,” Thalia said, smiling as she walked over to them. “I think you’ve officially earned the respect of the Hunters. I’m still disappointed we couldn’t take you down, though.”

“Five more minutes and you would have,” Jason laughed, and she made a face at him.

“Go put up your tent, then join us at dinner,” she ordered. “No time for sitting around.”

“Yes, ma’m,” Jason said, getting on his feet again, and looked down at Nico, who still seemed to be trying to catch his breath. Because he stayed on the ground, Nico had been the easier target, and had taken the brunt of the attack. Not to mention he had shadow traveled around a lot. No wonder he was exhausted. “You rest, I’ll get the tent up.”

Nico didn’t argue.

After putting the tent up a little outside the actual camp, at Thalia’s request, Jason returned to find Nico in the same spot, talking to two of the girls. He looked slightly distressed, and strangely sad. Jason hurried to his side.

“...the way you fought today, she would have been proud,” the larger, more muscular girl said. Nico seemed at loss for words, and looked up at Jason for help when he approached.

“We should go get something to eat,” Jason said, as if he hadn’t overheard anything. Nico nodded, and allowed Jason to help him up. He gave the girls a quick look before starting to walk towards the campfire.

“Who’d have thought that irritating little kid would become so powerful?” Jason heard one of the girls say behind him as he followed. Watching Nico sit down in front of the fire with a plate of roasted meat and vegetables, Jason wondered who Nico might have been if Bianca di Angelo hadn’t died. Would he have been happier? Probably, but probably not as strong. And without Nico’s strength, wouldn’t the world have fallen twice already?

“What are you staring at?” Nico asked him irritatedly after a while. Jason blinked.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize,” he said. Nico shrugged and returned his attention to the food. Despite the earlier exercise, he didn’t really look like he wanted to eat it. Jason frowned at him.

“Hazel would kill me if I didn’t make sure you ate enough during this trip,” he said, and Nico scowled.

“Using my own sister against me. How low is that?” he muttered, but he did start eating. Jason smiled and followed his example.

It wasn’t until they were heading off to sleep that Jason realized this could get complicated. He hadn’t really thought about it, but they would be sharing a pretty small tent. Jason wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that. Nico didn’t seem too happy about it either.

“I hate sleeping outdoors,” he said as they entered the tent, closing the entrance behind them. “If I wasn’t so tired I’d shadow travel back to camp for the night.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jason said, glad Nico wasn’t complaining about the company. “At least we’ll have cover if it starts raining.”

“Such luxury. I’m overwhelmed,” Nico said dryly as he zipped himself into his sleeping back and closed his eyes. Jason forced himself to look away and do the same. Some time after he heard Nico’s breathing even out, Jason lost the fight and looked over anyway. It was dark, but he could clearly make out the boy’s features. Nico was frowning slightly, like he knew Jason was studying him and didn’t approve, but all in all he seemed peaceful. His lips were slightly parted, and Jason had never wanted to kiss anyone so much. He sighed, tearing his gaze away and turning to face away from the sleeping boy beside him. Jason closed his eyes and was thankful the practice match had left him exhausted, otherwise he’d have no hope of getting any sleep tonight.

He woke up a few hours later, not sure why until Nico gave a whimper beside him. The boy was tossing and turning, and his face held an expression of pure terror. He whimpered again, and it was the most heartbreaking sound Jason had ever heard. Freeing his hands from the sleeping bag, he moved closer to Nico and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Nico, wake up!” he urged, shaking the boy gently. Nico opened his eyes, his body going rigid. He stared like he had no idea who Jason was and was going to attack him any second.

“It’s okay, Nico. It’s just me,” Jason said gently. “You were having a nightmare.”

Nico blinked uncomprehendingly a couple of times, then recognition seeped back into his eyes. He slowly sat up, Jason’s hand still on his shoulder, steadying him.

“Jason,” he said weakly. “Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Never mind about that. Are you okay?” Jason said, concerned, but Nico shrugged, shaking off Jason’s hand in the process.

“I’m fine. It was just a bad dream,” he said, bringing his knees up to his chin. Jason moved a bit closer.

“A memory?” he asked. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Nico scoffed.“What is it with you and talking about things?” he said, but there was no edge to his voice. “It was just a nightmare. All demi-gods have them.”

“All demi-gods haven’t been through what you have. You shouldn’t have to deal with it alone.”

“There’s no one else,” Nico muttered, sounding dejected.

“I’m here,” Jason said, putting his hand back on Nico’s shoulder. “I’m not leaving.”

Nico looked at Jason with wide eyes, and for a moment Jason suspected the boy was about to punch him. Instead Nico drew a shaking breath and allowed himself to lean on Jason, resting his head against Jason’s shoulder. Jason put an arm around him, and Nico didn’t protest. Neither of them said anything for a while.

“It was Tartarus,” Nico finally murmured. “I may have gotten out of there, but it just won’t leave me alone. I don’t think it ever will.” 

Jason wasn’t sure how to answer that. Saying something like “it’s gonna be okay’” seemed way too small. He simply pulled Nico closer to himself instead. Nico was almost in his lap now, and Jason tried to ignore the fact that he could feel him breathing against his neck. They remained like that, until Jason realized Nico had fallen asleep. He smiled as he looked down the younger boy, who seemed peaceful now. He wasn’t even frowning anymore.

Jason would have liked for them to stay like that, but there was nothing to lean against in the tent, and he knew he needed sleep of his own. Gently not to wake Nico Jason eased both of them down into a lying position, draping the sleeping boy over his arm rather than his chest. Jason was glad he’d been able to help Nico out, at least for tonight. Who knew how often the boy had nightmares like this, and had to face the nights alone. Protectively pulling Nico closer, Jason closed his eyes and went to sleep.

 

The tent was empty when Jason woke up. He hadn’t really expected it to be otherwise, but he was still disappointed, and a little worried. Nico had involuntarily shown Jason a very vulnerable side that night, and Jason wasn’t sure how he would handle it now that he was fully awake. Hopefully he would still realize that Jason sincerely wanted to help. And hopefully he _wouldn’t_ realize Jason had more than one reason for wanting him close.

Sighing, Jason got dressed and exited the tent. Nico was nowhere to be seen as Jason walked down to the campfire, but Thalia was sitting there, sharpening a blade.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said. “I was just about to wake you. Have some breakfast.”

“Where’s Nico?” Jason asked as he sat down. Thalia smiled.

“He woke up hours ago,” she said. “He joined a scouting party looking for signs of the griffins.”

“The girls didn’t mind?”

“Not after the skills he displayed yesterday, no,” Thalia said, testing the sharpness of her blade against her thumb. “Though you should probably take him away from here soon, or the newer ones might fall in love with him.”

Jason could see how that could happen. He laughed nervously. “What, and not me?” he joked.

“In case you didn't notice, he completely outshone you yesterday, little brother. Though that may be the wrong word when it comes to him.” Thalia smiled. Jason shrugged. Nico had been amazing, he would have had to be blind not to notice. He was smiling slightly to himself at the though.

Thalia frowned at him. “I just realized something. Can we talk alone?”

“Sure,” Jason said, confused, and followed his sister back to the tent he shared with Nico. There was no one else around. 

“How long has this been going on?” Thalia asked, sounding amused. Jason didn’t understand what she meant.

“What, Nico outshining me?” Jason asked, trying to backtrack but apparently ending up in the wrong spot.

“You not minding that he does,” Thalia laughed. “You were always competitive, but him you just smile and congratulate. You like him, don’t you?”

Jason stared at her, wondering if he should try to deny the whole thing. Then he crumbled. “Is it really that obvious?” he asked.

“I don’t think he’s noticed,” Thalia said, smiling gently. “Why haven't you told him?”

“It’s a long story,” Jason answered. “Complicated.”

“You think he wouldn’t accept you?” Thalia said, raising an eyebrow. “Because I’m pretty sure he’s not interested in girls, at least.”

“That’s not...”

“And he’s single, isn’t he? I think you’d have a pretty good chance,” she continued, paying him no mind. “You’re not that bad looking.”

“Thalia, stop!” Jason begged her. “It’s not going to happen. Nico likes someone else.”

“Who…? Oh, gods!” she said, eyes wide. “It’s Percy, isn’t it? I should have known. That’s just...that’s just really sad.”

“Listen, you can’t...” Jason trailed off, looking behind her. Nico was standing there, and if looks could kill Jason would have been as dead as the grass by Nico’s feet. The son of Hades spun around without a word, heading for the shadows beneath the trees.

“Nico, wait!” Jason yelled, and ran after him at full speed. He grabbed a hold of Nico’s shoulder the second the boy reached the shadows, and Jason's intestines turned inside out as they unexpectedly travelled. 

“Get off me!” Nico screamed the moment they landed, violently shaking Jason’s hand off. Jason grabbed a hold of Nico’s arm instead, to keep him from running away.

“Nico, please. I don’t know how much you heard, but...”

“I heard enough. You had no right to tell her. _No right!_ ” Nico yelled, his eyes blistering with anger. “You promised.”

“Nico, I swear on the river Styx, I didn’t tell her,” Jason said, pleading. “I only said you liked someone else. She figured out the rest on her own. I swear I didn’t mean to expose you.”

“Yeah, well, you did,” Nico bit angrily. “Wait, what do you mean _somebody else_?”

Jason hesitated. Nico was never going to believe him, but he couldn’t lie about this. “We were talking about me.”

“What about you?” Nico said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Jason took a deep breath. Nico was never going to forgive him anyway. It was now or never.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Nico froze. The world stood still. For a few seconds nothing happened, then Nico’s fist connected with Jason’s face and he flew backwards, hitting the ground hard.

“How dare you?” Nico yelled. “After everything...How _dare_ you patronize me like that? I thought you were...”

“Nico, please...” Jason said, slowly getting on his feet again, but when he looked up Nico was gone. Jason swore loudly, tasting blood in his mouth. Apparently his nose was bleeding. Jason didn’t particularly care. He kept staring at the spot where Nico had been standing moments before, hoping against hope that the boy would come back. He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but at some point he realized he wasn’t in the forest anymore. Nico had shadow traveled them to a city, and Jason had no idea where he was. He didn’t even have his sword. Slowly he sunk down against a wall and sobbed.

 

It was evening Jason finally made it back to Camp Half-Blood. In his emotional turmoil Tempest had been hard to summon, but thankfully he had appeared in the end. When Jason’s feet touched the ground all he wanted to do was get to his cabin and sleep, but today clearly wasn’t his day.

“Jason, you’re okay!” Percy appeared from nowhere. Jason resisted the urge to punch him in the face for just existing. “Right, so maybe not okay. Thalia sent us an IM earlier, wondering if we’d seen you. Something about a fight with Nico?”

Jason made a face. “I really don’t want talk about it right now. I just want to go to sleep.”

“Right. But is Nico okay? Where is he?” Percy asked, and Jason took a deep breath.

“I don’t know. The underworld, probably,” Jason snapped. Finally he reached the Zeus cabin. He quickly walked in and shut the door in Percy’s face. He would probably regret it tomorrow, but right then it held a certain satisfaction. Jason fell down on his bed without bothering to take of his clothes.

 

Percy and Annabeth were standing over him when Jason woke up. He groaned. Why couldn’t the cabins have locks?

“Go away, I’m sleeping,” Jason said into his pillow.

“Jason, it’s 12 am,” Annabeth said, sounding worried. Jason hated it when he worried people. Slowly, he sat up and attempted to smile at her, but judging by her frown he wasn’t very convincing.

“I’m fine, really,” he said. “I was just really tired.”

“Jason, what happened with Nico?” Percy asked, because he just couldn’t keep his nose out of other people’s business. Jason glared at him, fully aware he was being unfair.

“A misunderstanding. We had a fight,” he said simply. His friends weren’t buying it.

“Why would Nico break your nose over a misunderstanding?” Percy asked. “Here, by the way.”  
He handed Jason a bottle of ambrosia, and Jason took a deep gulp. It tasted like chocolate chip cookies.

“It was something I said,” Jason muttered. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Can you fix it?” Annabeth was looking at him, her eyes full of concern. Jason hung his head. 

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I really don’t know.”

Jason tried to behave as normally as he could during that day and the one that followed. Percy and Annabeth tried to help him, but they only made it worse. They asked too many questions, and he didn’t want to answer. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings, but to explain the situation meant giving Nico’s secret away. Jason couldn’t do that. 

He didn’t want to return to Camp Jupiter yet. He’d never had anything against the noisy barracks of the legion before, but right now he preferred the solitude of the Zeus cabin. Even if he was seriously considering covering up the statues face. It looked like his father was disappointed in him, and it was driving Jason insane. 

Two days after his fight with Nico he woke up to find someone standing over him again. Thinking it was Percy or Annabeth, he growled. “Leave me alone.”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” said a familiar voice, and Jason sat up so quickly he almost fell out of bed. Nico di Angelo was standing by his bedside, looking very uncomfortable.

“Am I dreaming?” Jason asked stupidly. Nico snorted, but he sounded a bit nervous.

“Do you usually dream about me?” he asked, fiddling with his rings.

“Sometimes,” Jason admitted, figuring there was no use denying it. “Why are you here?”

“Like I said, I want to talk,” Nico said, and Jason motioned for him to sit down. Nico hesitated for a moment before complying. For a while he just stared down at the floor, then he took a deep breath.

“I had a fight with my father,” he said. “About you. He said you were just like his brother; fickle, violent, untrustworthy and with a too high opinion of yourself.”

He glanced over at Jason, who listened quietly, wondering where this story was going.

“I disagreed,” Nico continued, his hands nervously grabbing the edge of Jason’s bed. “You’ve never been like that, except maybe the last part. Sometimes. And I realized I was being stupid.”

He paused, turning his gaze on Jason again. “What you said… did you mean it?”

Jason nodded. “Every word,” he said. “Is that okay?”

Nico laughed. “What kind of a question is that?” he said, then sobered up. “I overreacted. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jason smiled. “You’re here now."

Nico looked away, apparently still nervous. "Why me?" he asked quietly. "I'm not the kind of person someone like you should be interested in."

"Have you even seen you? Properly, I mean." Jason said, struggling to keep down the urge to put his arms around the boy. "You try scare people away, telling them you don't care, but looking at all the people you've saved, the things you've accomplished? You care way more than you'd like to, but you're afraid of letting people down."

"I always do." Nico said, barely audible. "Sooner or later you'll realize that."

"I doubt it. I honestly think you're amazing. Besides, everybody makes mistakes. Nobody expects you to be infallible. Except maybe you." Jason said, putting his hand on Nico's shoulder, and silently rejoicing that it wasn't immediately shook off. "I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly...wait, what did you mean, someone like me?"

Nico snorted. His cheeks were bright red and he was starting to grin as he looked up at Jason through his bangs. "Someone with too high an opinion of himself, and an unfortunate tendency to give embarrassing speeches."

"Hey, it's true. I honestly like you. You should know that." Jason said, blushing slightly. Nico's grin disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful expression. Jason met his eyes, wondering if Nico had finally realized Jason was being serious. Neither of them said a word.

After a while Jason cleared his throat. "So, are we still friends?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a crush on Percy anymore, you know.” he said, and Jason’s heart stopped.

“Really?” he asked breathlessly.

“Really,” Nico said, smiling shyly towards him. He seemed almost scared, like he expected Jason to tell him to leave any second. “So...If you want...I mean...”

“Nico.” Jason said moving forward to touch his face. He wanted so much to just lean in and take what was offered, but he had to make sure. He had to _know_. “Are you okay with this? I know I’m not your first choice, but I...”

“Just shut up.” Nico growled, grabbing a fistful of Jason's shirt and violently pulling him forward. For a split second Jason thought he was going to get hit again, and then Nico’s lips clashed into Jason’s, so hard his teeth almost hurt. Jason didn’t need another invitation. 

He pulled Nico towards him, burying a hand in his hair and kissing him with everything he’d got. Nico moaned appreciatively into his mouth, and Jason suddenly realized it was probably Nico’s first kiss. He moved his hand to Nico's chin, gently urging him to open his mouth. Nico complied, then moaned again as Jason's tongue touched his. Nico finally wrapped his arms around Jason, certainly not complaining, and Jason could have burst into song, had his mouth not been otherwise occupied.

After a while he pulled away, though he still held Nico in a tight embrace. Nico was breathing heavily against him, laughing slightly.

“Never talk to me about _first choices_ again,” he said. “ _You moron_.”

“Sorry,” Jason muttered into his hair. “I just wanted to make sure. I think I love you, you know.”

Nico looked up at him, blushing furiously. Jason thought that must be the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. He leaned down for another kiss.

 

“Do you want to tell the others?” Jason asked later, when they were laying under Jason’s blanket, about to go to sleep. No clothes had been shed, save Nico’s aviator’s jacket. They were taking it slow, by mutual agreement. Besides, the giant statue of Jason’s father was still looking at them.

Nico was lying on Jason’s arm, looking sleepy. He frowned slightly at the question. “If you’re serious about this, then we’ll have to, won’t we?” he said hesitatingly.

“I am very serious about this,” Jason said, kissing the corner of Nico’s eye. “But we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you want to keep it a secret, then we will keep it a secret.”

“I can’t really deny it anymore, can I?” Nico sighed. “It wouldn't be fair to you. You would want to tell them.”

“Yes,” Jason said. “I’m not ashamed of it, so I don’t think there’s any reason to hide it. Unless you want to.”

“I want to talk to Hazel first,” Nico said after a pause. “When it comes down to it, hers is the only opinion I care about.”

“She might be shocked at first, but it’ll be fine,” Jason reassured him.

Nico smiled brightly. “Yes, I think it will be.”

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ant that's it! A little late, but it's still Saturday in some parts of the world, so that counts, right?  
> So what did you guys think? I may or may not write a short sequel at some point, but for now it's the end.  
> Thanks so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for killing Reyna. I love her, but I felt at least one of the big characters had to die and I felt her death changed the group dynamics the least. Comments are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!


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